renewable energy

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Clean Energy Grew at Breakneck Speed in 2023

Solar is now the cheapest form of electricity in a majority of countries

(Newser) - Led by new solar power, the world added renewable energy at breakneck speed in 2023, a trend that if amplified will help Earth turn away from fossil fuels and prevent severe warming and its effects. Clean energy is often now the least expensive, explaining some of the growth. Nations also...

Amid High Emissions, We Have 'Reasons to Be Hopeful'
New Climate Change Report
Has Hopeful Tone
NEW REPORT

New Climate Change Report Has Hopeful Tone

International Energy Agency acknowledges 'spectacular increase' in clean energy tech

(Newser) - The remarkable growth of clean energy technologies, including electric vehicles, is offering a glimmer of hope as the world faces the effects of a warming planet. In a new report , the Paris-based International Energy Agency finds the path to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and reaching net-zero...

World’s First ‘Sand Battery’ Installed in Finland

It can store heat for use when solar and other renewables come up short

(Newser) - A team of Finnish engineers has installed the world’s first commercial "sand battery," and it could help overcome a vexing obstacle to widescale implementation of renewable energy, per the BBC. It couldn’t come at a better time for Finland, since Russia cut both gas and electricity...

South Korean Mine May Be Sign of Things to Come

Nation will tap its own tungsten, part of a global push for rare minerals and a green revolution

(Newser) - South Korea is reopening a long-shuttered tungsten mine, one of many examples around the globe of countries scrambling to secure access to the raw materials for a green energy revolution. “Resources have become weapons and strategic assets,” says Lee Dong-seob, VP of Almonty Korea Tungsten Corp, per Reuters...

Report: Solar Could Power 40% of US Electricity by 2035

10-fold increase is 'definitely achievable,' group says

(Newser) - Solar energy has the potential to supply up to 40% of the nation’s electricity within 15 years—a 10-fold increase over current solar output, but one that would require massive changes in US policy and billions of dollars in federal investment to modernize the nation's electric grid, a...

Ikea to Sell Something New: Electricity

Furniture giant will sell affordable electricity from wind and solar parks to homes in Sweden

(Newser) - Ikea already sells solar panels in nearly a dozen of its markets. Now, the furniture giant based out of Sweden is taking an even deeper plunge into the renewable-energy market, starting on its home turf. Beginning next month, Ikea will sell electricity from solar and wind parks to domestic households,...

Feds 'Ready to Rock-and-Roll' in Push to Expand Wind Power

Administration to support huge expansion in East Coast offshore wind projects

(Newser) - National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy says the Biden administration is "ready to rock-and-roll" with plans to boost offshore wind energy production along the East Coast. McCarthy said Monday that the administration plans to speed up development of clean energy projects and generate 30 million gigawatts of offshore wind power—...

Late Night Has Beef With Conservatives Pouncing on Texas Windmills

Hosts ridicule idea that renewable energy is to blame for blackouts

(Newser) - Many late night hosts are taking time off for Presidents' Day, but not Jimmy Kimmel and Trevor Noah, both of whom took issue Wednesday with the wrongful blame being placed on renewable energy as Texas' power grid is overwhelmed.
  • "I know people were praying for Texas to go blue,
...

Facebook Is Building a Massive Solar Farm

Texas project will be among the nation's biggest

(Newser) - Facebook is building a massive solar farm in West Texas that's believed to be one of the largest solar projects in the nation and the social media giant's first direct investment in renewable energy. Boston-based renewable energy developer Longroad Energy recently announced it was partnering with Facebook on...

Senate Shuns Green New Deal
Green New Deal
Fizzles in Senate

Green New Deal Fizzles in Senate

But Democrats call it a 'sham' vote

(Newser) - The Senate on Tuesday defeated a proposal to take up the Green New Deal as both parties shunned an opportunity to debate a comprehensive climate change plan offered by Democrats. Majority Republicans forced the vote as they seek to turn the Green New Deal into a wedge issue in the...

Calif. Makes Big Move on 'Existential' Climate Threat

Golden State will run on 100% clean energy by 2045

(Newser) - With ambitious new goals to eliminate fossil fuels from its electricity system and slash greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2045, California is headed "in the right direction" while the Trump administration and others lag behind, Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday. "California has been doing stuff that the...

Britain Quit Coal. Why Can't America?
Quitting Coal Is Hard.
Just Ask Britain
longform

Quitting Coal Is Hard. Just Ask Britain

How the UK embraced a painful move away from coal energy

(Newser) - While the Trump administration scrambles to save coal , Britain has shuttered its last deep mine and vowed to stop using coal for electricity by 2025. How did two nations take such different paths? Apparently cheap foreign coal and a political willingness to undergo the pain of mine closures fueled Britain'...

Elon Musk Made Bold Promise, Fulfilled It

World's biggest lithium ion battery is installed in South Australia

(Newser) - Elon Musk promised to have the job done in 100 days or it's free . Well, it looks like Australia will be paying up. Tesla has completed installation of the world's biggest lithium ion battery in South Australia and will be turning it on next week, ahead of a...

Elon Musk on Newest Project: Done in 100 Days or It's Free

Tesla to build world's largest lithium-ion battery in South Australia

(Newser) - Elon Musk has an ambitious new project on his plate: building the world's largest lithium-ion battery. The 100 megawatt battery, which will be put together by Tesla and French energy company Neoen, will store renewable energy for the state of South Australia, the Guardian reports. The battery will be...

Vermont Gas Station Goes Solar
Vermont Gas Station
Goes Solar

Vermont Gas Station Goes Solar

'I'm willing to go green, but I've got to save some green in the process,' owner says

(Newser) - The Pump & Pantry looked unremarkable—a gas station, grocery, and deli along the main road through the rural Vermont town of Williamstown. But now the independent business is a meeting place of fossil fuels and renewable energy. It's a gas station that's gone solar. Owner Sam Adams—...

Wind Energy Just Got a Big Boost in US

Nation's first offshore wind farm opens off coast of Rhode Island

(Newser) - The nation's first offshore wind farm has opened off the coast of Rhode Island, ushering in a new era in the US. Deepwater Wind built five turbines 3 miles off Block Island to power about 17,000 homes, a project costing about $300 million. It announced Monday that the...

Power-Hungry Google Makes Major Energy Announcement

The tech giant says it will get all energy from renewable sources in 2017

(Newser) - It takes a lot of energy to power Google's empire. In 2015, the company used 5.2 terawatt hours—enough to power half a million homes for the year, Popular Mechanics reports. In 2017, 100% of that massive amount of energy will come from renewable sources, Google announced Tuesday....

Wyoming Taxes the Wind, Maybe to Death

One of the world's largest wind farms could be dead on arrival

(Newser) - Unlike many states that subsidize alternative energy sources, in 2012 Wyoming became the first state to tax wind power. In the four years since, it hasn't even collected $15 million in revenue—perhaps partly due to the lack of major wind projects constructed since the tax was enacted, reports...

ExxonMobil CEO: World Needs Our Oil, 'Like It or Not'

Cutting oil production 'not acceptable to humanity': Rex Tillerson

(Newser) - Keep the oil taps flowing for the good of the people, the CEO and chair of ExxonMobil appealed to shareholders at what the Guardian says was a "long and fractious" annual meeting in Dallas on Wednesday. Rex Tillerson told attendees the oil giant had already pumped $7 billion into...

Germany Basically Had to Pay People to Use Electricity Sunday

Thanks to a new high-water mark in renewable energy

(Newser) - Germany hit a new milestone in renewable energy on Sunday, generating so much power at one point that customers were essentially being paid to turn on their lights or charge their phones. Quartz reports that around 1pm Sunday, about 87% of the power being used in Germany was coming from...

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